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I'm relatively low tech . . . hell even with my Palm Pilot I still most often print out maps and write down the coords . . . and I typically jot down a few random thoughts on the caches I find in a note pad. While I will not purposefully delay entering any found caches I also will not go out of my way to log any caches found -- FTF or otherwise -- until I am back in front of my computer and have the time. This may mean a delay of a few minutes, a few hours or in some cases a few days if I am logging while on a camping trip.

That said . . . I rarely go out of my way just to log a FTF.

It's the way I play the game . . . to each their own.

"Courage is not the absence of fear, but the realization that there is something more important than fear."

" What's next, whoever posts a note on the cache page stating their intentions to go for FTF should be the only person to go after it?"

That has nothing to do with what we are discussing. You are taking the topic at hand, and twisting it as much as possible.

I don't see how hard it is for someone to make a phone call to a friend who can log a note on a page, if they have gotten FTF so as to alert anyone else that the find has been made. Smart phone or no smart phone, 99.9% of cachers have the ability to do that one simple step very quickly and by refusing to do that, without being ignorant of the importance of FTFs, then you are purposely choosing to be discourteous.

It's funny, I have taken a lot of heat on this particular forum for my views, and accuses of being some very unkind words, yet when it comes to caching courtesy, no one else here seems to care. There is still a lof of hypocrisy on these forums, with the old excuse to cover one's ass " it's how I choose to play the game". If someone came on here and told you that they pick up and take home every cache that they find after they log it because even though they enjoy Geocaching, yet think that objects left in the woods, were litter.... would you attack them here? But what if they use the disclaimer "but thats how I play the game..."

That phrase is your little cover up, sort of like Bill Clinton's "That depends on what the definition of the word "is", is". Come on....

" What's next, whoever posts a note on the cache page stating their intentions to go for FTF should be the only person to go after it?"

That has nothing to do with what we are discussing. You are taking the topic at hand, and twisting it as much as possible.

My point is, there is so much people try to do do make this game easier. Each of us will have varying opinions on which things make the game easier in a positive or negative way. For me, if the reason you want people to log FTFs at the cache site is so that you don't have to trouble yourself going to a cache that's been found, possibly giving you ore time to get FTF on another cache, you're trying to make the game easier for you. My suggestion to log your intentions before heading out is ridiculous - after all, the allure of the FTF is to get there before other people and if you'd expect no one else to go for it it really would not be a race. But to me, expecting everyone to alert you immediately that they FTF'd a cache is nearly as silly.

And I'm with you with the "let people cache the way they want to" argument. I've stated several times on this site and elsewhere there is no way everyone can cache totally the way they want to and yet have everyone else be happy. We all have to find ways to cache that fits within the ways other people cache.

If I log my intentions before heading out..... that will make people log it quicker? Honestly, that's the dumbest thing I have ever heard. So if I write a note on a cache in Bangor three hours before I leave Kennebunk, you're telling me that EvilHomer is going to go and either not find the cache so I can have FTF or he is actually going to log it quick or let me know that he has gotten the FTF? This is absurd. There is enough competition for FTFs around that when you log your intention on a cache, someone else is gonna run out and grab it before you can or race you. I think what you guys dont understand is that when we run for an FTF we are dropping everything else and spending MONEY (gas) to run for a cache that hasn't been found yet. That's how we cache. I guess I'll just start disregarding courtesy when it comes to everything else in caching as well. You've all pretty much told me that you will outright refuse to notify anyone when you get an FTF regardless of whether you have the capability to or not. Good to know. I'll enjoy caching in Bangor the next time I am there.....

Interesting. Seems that everyone thinks that you should log as soon as you possibly can... and YOU Brdad ;-) seem to be the one jerk who wants to purposely make people run for a cache, all the while knowing it has been found, wasting gas and possibly disregarding something else important..... good to know.

By the way.... got an FTF last night 175 miles from home: Jackman Nano at 11:11pm. Didn't log from site since there was no cell service but logged as soon as I had data service in Skowhegan.

I'm starting to think this thread is done. I feel like I am beating my head against a brick wall with some people around here...... so unless anyone has anything more... I'll probably close it down.

Until such time as a strict guideline is publish regarding how fast and what method is to be used to log an FTF then arguing over how fast it should be logged becomes an argument of opinion and is, without a doubt, an unwinnable argument from either side. What you consider courtesy...logging the FTF within the absolute shortest time....others don't consider a courtesy because it's not as important to them as it is to you. You're willing to take one aspect of your hobby and put it ahead of other considerations in your life and that's the way you play the game. If we all had to play this 100% right down to the letter I bet there would be vastly fewer cachers out there. Just because someone doesnt' share your opinion on how fast the FTF should be logged and doesn't share your enthusiasm for playing the game the way you are with FTFs doesn't make them a jerk. Looking at things from a different point of view doesn't make anyone a jerk, even if the guideline was established. What if I were to consider anyone posting spoiler comments or pictures a jerk? Would that stop you from posting spoiler comments or pictures?

Keep in mind, what you consider important doesn't have to be what we all consider important. If you consider it a courtesy, that's fine for you. If I don't consider it a courtesy at the same level as you, it doesn't mean I'm any more or less a jerk than you are.

Wow... so what you are telling me here, is that what one person considers rude, or inconsiderate, isn't so if another doesn't consider it so? In life there are general rules we all follow that although they may not be laws set forth by a Government, we all follow them, such as manners, and courtesy. What would you do if you saw a man purposely close a door instead of holding it open, for an old lady? I'm really dumbfounded at the attitude I am seeing coming out of many of you on this topic. Look at the old thread that brdad posted and compare that thread with this one. What happened to the attitudes of caching? It's like in 6 years, people have regressed. You should be ashamed.

I'm not ashamed. I merely stated that what your opinion of courtesy is doesn't necessarily fit in with what others consider courtesy. I have previously stated and I will state here again that I log FTF's as soon after we find them as possible. I don't have a smart phone so it might take a few minutes up to a few hours before the log hits the site.....that's courtesy. Your calling others jerks and saying I should be ashamed because my opinion differs from yours would be something I consider discourteous in the extreme. Will I lose sleep over it tonight? Absolutely not. This is a game to be played for fun. If I have to play it by your rules and have less fun, I quit. Fortunately, for me, your rules pertain only to you so I'll cache on. I'm sure you won't stop caching just because I don't have a smart phone and absolutely refuse to use my minutes on my tracfone just to make sure you don't accidentally run for a no longer available FTF....it's the nature of the game. Run for FTF and get second or later to find. It's GEOCACHING!